Val Chmerkovskiy suspended from ‘Dancing With the Stars’ over Will Smith Oscars slap reference

Val Chmerkovskiy has been suspended from “Dancing With the Stars” for one episode after a social media post appeared to reference Will Smith’s 2022 Oscars slap. The suspension matters as the programme’s producer described it as a response to an inappropriate post, and ABC said it was the first known suspension of a professional dancer in the show’s history.

The post followed judge Carrie Ann Inaba’s criticism of Chmerkovskiy’s wife, Jenna Johnson, and her dance partner, Harry Shum Jr., over a lift in their samba. Chmerkovskiy wrote, “You almost saw the Fresh Prince enter the ballroom”, then deleted the post and apologised to Inaba, saying he had made a poor decision while trying to defend his wife. He will miss Tuesday’s Dedication Night, and his celebrity partner Jenna Dewan will dance with Alan Bersten.